GODZILLA FINAL WARS Review *spoilers*

[Guest venoms5]

Just saw a divix copy of this over the weekend and I must say I was bewildered by what I saw. Although I did enjoy this film(there are A LOT of special effects in this one) part of me detested it for several reasons. GFW does not feel like a G film. Godzilla is really only in it for maybe 40 minutes at the most. The extremely short monster fights are played mostly for laughs. Particularly the 4 on 1 fight where the monsters literally play 'soccer' with Angilas. The Kumongo fight features G slinging the giant arachnid 'round and 'round until finally releasing him into the stratosphere. The final battle features one scene that is kind of cool but still a bit silly wherein one of the mutant superheroes is standing over the main villain wailing on him with rights and lefts while on a large screen you see Godzilla doing the same to Kaiser Ghidorah just before his transformation. The 70's G films, from which this movie's monster fights are inspired by, were tailored for this kind of approach. It seems hopelessly out of place here and very ill conceived even though Kitamura intentionally wanted to make this like a 70's G film. Also Minya's appearances seem to be nothing more than an afterthought as there is no explanation for his being in the movie. In his first scene he's seen standing in the woods as a villager pulls a rifle on him. If the aliens were summoning the monsters to conquer the Earth as well as challenge Godzilla when he finally does show up why would they produce a baby Godzilla? Unless something is explained in the Japanese dialog as this didn't have subs his whole reason for being is never revealed and there really isn't much dialog anyways and much of it is spoken in english. One painful scene involves an argument between a cop and a pimp. Suddenly Rodan passes over yanking the two mens' hats from there heads accompanied by cartoon sound effects. I constantly asked myself with so much english dialog why couldn't at least half way decent actors have been used in this film. Although Don Frye's character is very memorable, his delivery fluctuates between so-so and just plain terrible.The other complaint is that the human fights take precedence over the monster action. The fight between the heroes and villains at the end is probably longer than all the monster fights combined. The music is also pretty bad and a metal song plays briefly during the Godzilla and GINO fight(all 10 seconds of it). What I did like was that for a two hour film it goes by very quickly as there is so much action. The story of mutant humans with superpowers combatting giant monsters is a nice change of pace instead of the usual military assaults where they are essentially committing involuntary suicide. The human fights are well done and should please the kung fu crowd. Some of the monster fights are well done with what little screen time they are given. Particularly Mothra's battle with Gigan while G is battling Kaiser Ghidorah. Although Mothra and Gigan last for about a minute,this fight is reminiscent of the finale of G VS. GIGAN. One humorous scene has an American kid with chocolate all over his face playing with his Kaiju toys who tosses a Gamera figure into a fireplace while proclaiming him a loser. Also Godzillas new ways of releasing his radioactive breath is a nice touch, particularly his tornado spin blast at the finale. There is a lot to like here but it is difficult to assertain whether the positives outweigh the negatives. That depends on the individual watching it. The extreme fans(of which I am one)will still enjoy it for its entertainment value while most others will probably consider it crap and typical Japanese sci-fi fluff. If I were going to introduce someone to Godzilla films or Japanese sci fi for that matter, this would be the last movie I would show them. It is definitely not in the same class as the Tezuka films and for all its flashy effects, thunder and lightning I wonder how the execs at Toho really feel about this one. Judging by how badly it performed in Japanese theaters this will probably be a direct to DVD release here.

[Guest godzillakungfu]

You know what. It actually followed more of the popular movies and my personal favorites. Godzila Vs. MechaGodzilla, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero and Ghidrah the Three Headed Monster. Plus, the cult favorite Destroy All Monsters. Go watch those again. Nowhere in the movie then boom there he is chewing up the scenery.

Yeah there were flaws but I think the look and feel more than made up for it. Except minilla. OMG just when I think you can't get worse they do.

[Guest UrbanKungFu]

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[Guest rindge]

Does anyone know when a english subtitled or dubbed (my kids love the films) will be available? I read somewhere that Sony has the rights, but no dates as to when it might be released with English language options.

Thanks

[Guest godzillakungfu]

It all depends. US companies (I know Japan) are notorious for holding rights forever.

The Japanese version should be out now with no subs. Check legit places before ebay.

[Guest Megaloman]

really enjoyed this movie, and will of course buy it when Sony gets around to a legit release. so far it's my favorite Godzilla movie in 30 years.

i'm not sure what the people complaining about this movie are seeing, guess it's not "dark and serious (and boring)" enough for them.

David

[Guest venoms5]

Got ahold of a three disc subtitled version of this film and my opinion only changed slightly. As far as entertainment goes, it has much to offer in terms of action. As a monster film it fails on many levels as most of the action focuses on MATRIX-X MEN style fights. The main villain whose name escapes me is the most memorable character in the film while the main mutant hero spends most of his screen time appearing constipated or suffering from a severe migraine from his near constant facial twitches and contortions. If this film were not the last for several years that would be fine as the series has had its share of G films that stray from the formula in various ways such as the two Kazuki Omori films and GMK. The final film should encapsulate the best and most memorable elements from the entire series(which this film vainly attempts to do on several occasions) although it was a brave decision on Tohos part to try something different and who apparently gave Kitamura free reign to do what he wanted. I don't dislike the film completely, there are a lot of good things to be found here, I just don't feel it's a fitting end to the series. As far as "boring" goes, the only G films that were remotely boring to me was the finale of GMK(once Godzilla and K Ghidorah hit the water the film dragged as well as the numerous time KG had to be brought back to life.)and nearly all of SPACE GODZILLA. Next to Honda, Maasaki Tezuka perfectly captured the flavor of the best of the Godzilla series melding imaginative monster action with the human scenes. All in all, FINAL WARS has its moments but if I were to introduce a new fan to this series, it wouldn't be this film.

[Guest Yakuza954]

I'm a ryuhei kitamura fan and felt like he'd been on a roll recently with Aragami, Azumi and Longinus, but this was a degression back. I think the movie should have taken itself more seriously. Too many hoky characters, dialogue and a severe case of cheap Matrix syndrome brought the film down.

[Guest venoms5]

Exactly. Not only hokey characters but hokey scenes including the looney tunes sound effects during the New York sequence and the brief three on one monster fight where the creatures play soccer using Anguilus as the ball. The biggest disappointment for me was that Gigan is built up to be this major force to be reckoned with and he lasts all of thirty seconds only to appear during the finale for about a minute and a half where he suffers one of the most laughable deaths ever. Mothra turning kamikaze to destroy him is a wonderful exit for both but to have him clumsily sever his own head with his own weapon just before Mothras suicide run is just ridiculous. Also, if you're going to make a Godzilla movie, or any monster movie for that matter at 125 minutes you should have a bit more than 10 minutes(if it's even that)of monster action.

[Guest monwobobbo]

this just played i a theater here in rochester ny. as a huge godzilla fan i wasn't disappointed. the film is a tribute to the 70s films that the director grew up with. as such its pretty good. the movie takes some getting used to but overall i had a good time. seeing the film with 500 other godzilla freaks helped.

[KyFi]

Finally got around to seeing it, and I enjoyed it a lot. I really missed the alien invasion scenarios that had been largely absent from the Godzilla movies of the last couple of decades, and it was great to see the Xilians, replete with the Devo/Monster Zero wraparound shades! Great FX, I loved the opening battle with Manda, the flying subs, the mutants battling Ebira, and the general monster mayhem. And we don't just get the usual terrible American actor, we get a bad-ass heroic terrible Amercian actor!! It might have been a bit sillier than the last couple of G movies, but I thought it was also more adventurous and stylistic. The only real downside for me was the score---it seemed more like some of the cheesy, low budget synth music of some of the lamer 90's movies. I don't know why they didn't just bring back the great Ifukube scores of the 60's, as those are the best ever. Still, despite the flaws, I found this to be an incredibly fun G movie.

[Guest godzillakungfu]

Yes it had its problems but I the movie. I the fact that Gzilla was finally a monster butt kicker.

[Guest gfanikf]

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